
Pass LUz/^^ 
Book ' ic) . 



/ 

MEMORIALS 



OF THE 



GRADUATES 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, 



IN 



OAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, 



COMMENCING WITH 



THE FIRST CLASS, M DC XLH. 



BY JOHN FAR3IER5 

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY OF THE NEW-HAMPSHIRE 
HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



CONCORD, N. H. 
MARSH, C A P E N AND LYON. 

1835. 



^^p 



\^'^ 



Eqtered according to an act of Congress, in the year 1833, by 

John Farmer, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of New-Hampshire. 



JMEMORIALS 

OF THE 

GRADUATES 

OF 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY 



I. HENRY DUNSTER, A. M., President. 
[Hknry Dunstzr, the first person who is styled President of Harvard College, 
caine to New-England in 1640, and was inducted into office on the 27th August, the 
same year. He retired from the presidency , 24 October, 1654 ; and removed to 
Scituate, Massachusetts, where he died 27 February, 1659. His age is unknown. 
He was buried in Cambridge. Seventy-four persons received the degree of Bachelor 
of Arts, while he was at the head of llse Institution.] 



1642. 

1. Benjamin WooDBRiDGE, D. D.j whom Dr. 
Calamy calls ^^the lasting glory, as well as the 
first fruits of the college in New-England, as 
Bishop Usher was at that of Dublin,'' was son of 
"^"/^ Rev. John Wooclbridge, minister of the parish of 
Stanton in Wiltshire, and was born in the year 
1622. His paternal ancestors for several genera- 
tions were clergymen. His mother was daughter 
of Rev. Robert Parker, a learned puritan divine, 
and author of De Signo Crucis^ De descensu 
Christi ad Infei^os^ and De Politeia Ecclesiastica — 
works much esteemed by the dissenting clergymen 
of his time. His brother, Rev. John Woodbridge, 
was partly educated at Oxford, and came to this 
country in 1634, with his uncle Rev. Thomas Par- 
ker, and afterwards became the first minister of 
Andovcr, Massachusetts. Benjamin Woodbridge 
had been a member of Magdalen College, in Ox- 



4 GRADUATES OF HARVARD, [164^. 

ford, but did not complete his education there, al- 
though he was afterwards admitted to the degree 
of Master of Arts at that University. For some 
reason, he left his native country and joined his 
friends in New-England. Here his brother had 
married into one of the first famihes ; here was his 
uncle Parker, one of the first scholars of the time, 
and Rev. James Noyes, who had married his 
mother's sister, and several other friends, by 
whom he was cordially received. The college at 
Cambridge had commenced anew under the au- 
spices of President Dunster ; new students had 
entered, a milder government was instituted, and 
all its concerns assumed a more favorable aspect 
than they had done under his predecessor. Mr. 
Woodbridge became a member j&f^thTs seminary 
soon after his arrival, and^wlien he was gradua- 
tedj was placed at the head of the class ; — a 
rank to which he seems to have been entitled on 
account of his family connexions, and his literary 
acquisitions, which were probably surpassed by 
none of his colleagues. 

He returned to England soon after completing 
his studies, and within a few years, was known as 
a popular and highly accomplished preacher. He 
is first represented as being ^^an eminent herald of 
heaven" at Salivsbury, situated in abroad pleasant 
vale^ on the river Avon, in his own native county. 
He had remained here but a few years, when he 
visited Newbury, in Berkshire, where his elo- 
quence and talents, attracted the attention of sev- 
eral distinguished persons, and he was invited to 
succeed Rev. William Twiss, D. D., who was 
long the minister of that place, and whose name 
was familiar to the clergy of New-England, by his 
being the president of the Westminster assembly 
of divines, and by his works on theology, some of 
which are read at the present day by American 
students. In this station, Mr. Woodbridge shone 



1642.] HENRY DUNSTER, PRESIDENT. 5 

as a scholar, a preacher, a casuist, and a christian. 
His influence is said to have been so great, that 
he brought the whole town, which had been much 
divided into religious parties, to a state of harmo- 
ny in opinion, and unity of worship, which produ- 
ced a great and highly favorable change in the 
general aspect of society. This he efiected by 
great labor and unceasing devotion to his parochi- 
al and ministerial duties. It was his custom for 
several years to preach three times a w^eek, and to 
give an exposition of some portion of scripture, an 
hour every morning. His success was so remark- 
able, that before he left Newbury, there was 
scarcely a family in town, *^where there was not 
repeating, praying, reading and singing of psalms 
in it." This is stated on the authority of Dr. 
Calamy. 

After the restoration of King Charles II., he , 
was one of his chaplains in ordinary, and on one / 
occasion while in that capacity, preached before ' 
his majesty. He was one of the commissioners 
of the conference, at the Savoy in London, and 
was desirous of an accommodation, and regretted 
the failure of the efforts made to effect it. His 
chance for perferment in the church was perhaps 
superior to that of any of the early sons of Harv- 
ard, who returned to England ; but his conscien- 
tious scruples were an insuperable bar to his ad- 
vancement in ecclesiastical dignity. The canonry 
of Windsor was offered to him, but his determina- 
tion not to conform to the ceremonies of the 
church, led him to decline its acceptance. In 
1662, he was silenced by the act of uniformity, 
w^hich went into operation in August of that year, 
and which deprived more than two thousand min- 
isters, lecturers, masters and fellows of colleges, 
and school-masters, of their livings. As he could 
not after this preach publicly, he maintained a 
private meeting at Newbury, whither he had re- 



6 GRADUATES OF HAllVARD. [164^. 

turned after an absence of a year or two. In 
1671, upon some relaxation of the rigorous meas- 
ures against the non-conformists, he resumed his 
pub he labors, and continued them until about the 
time of his death, which occurred at Inglelield, in 
Berkshire, 1 November, 1684, in the sixty third 
year of his age. He had been the minister of 
Newbury, in public and private, nearly forty years. 
Though he suffered less perhaps than most of his 
dissenting brethren, yet he did not purchase any 
mitigation of ecclesiastical severity by bending his 
principles to suit the times in which he lived. He 
lived and died a non-conformist. He generally 
received, notwithstanding his non-conformity, the 
respect of good judges of true and real worth, 
however much his religious sentiments differed 
from theirs. Dr. Calamy says of him, that "He 
was a universally accomplished person 5 one of a 
clear and strong reason, and of an exact and pro- 
found judgment. His learning was very consid- 
erable, and he was a charming preacher, having a 
most commanding voice and air. His temper was 
staid and cheerful 5 and his behaviour very gen- 
teel and obliging. He was a man of great gener- 
osity, and of an exemplary moderation : one ad- 
dicted to no faction, but of a catholic spirit. In 
short, so eminent was his usefulness, as to cast 
no small reflection on those who had a hand in si- 
lencing and confining him." Anthony Wood ac- 
knowledges, that ^^ he was accounted among his 
brethren a learned and a mighty man." 

His publications were, 1. A Sermon on justifi- 
cation by faith, 1653 5 2. Themethodof grace in 
the justification of sinners, being a defence of the 
preceding, against Mr. Eyre, 4 to. 1656. Of this 
work, Calamy says, it ^^deserves the perusal of all 
such as would see the point of justification ner- 
vously and exactly handled." 3. Church Mem= 
bers ^-et in joint, 4to, 1656, He also pubhshed in 



1642.] HKNRV DUNStER, PRESIDENT. 7 

1661, a work written by his iincle-iivlaw, Rev, 
James Noyes, entitled Moses and Aaron ; or the 
rights of the church and state ; containing two 
disputations. His name is subscribed to the Lines 
"upon the tomb of the most Reverend Mr. John 
Cotton, late teacher of the church of Boston in 
New^-England," pubhshed in the Magnaha, vol. 
1.258^259. Calcuny^ Account of Ejected Minis- 
ters^ ii. 94, 95. JVon-conformist^ s Memorial^ iii. 
290. Winthrop^ Hist. JY, E. ii. 161. 1 Coll. Mass. 
Hist. Soc. X. 32. Holmes^ Annals of America^ 
i. 414, 415. Allen^ Biographical Diet. Art. 
WooDBRiDGE. Mather^ Magnalia^ ii. 20. 

2. George Downing was born in the city of 
London in 1624, and accompanied his parents to 
this country when about thirteen years of age. 
His father^ Emanuel Dow^ning was a great friend 
to New-England, and was brother-in-law to John 
Winthrop, oneof the principal founders of the col- 
ony of Massachusetts, and its first governor. On 
his arrival here as early as 16885 he settled at Sa- 
lem, where he was soon chosen representative to 
the general court, and continued in office five 
years. His son George was placed under the tu- 
ition of Rev. John Fiske, who resided at Salem 
as a teacher several years, and by him was fitted 
for college. When he entered the new institution 
at Cambridge, it was under the instruction of Na- 
thaniel Eaton, a man found to be not well temper- 
ed for his station, and who was therefore removed 
from it ; but on his entering his junior year, it 
was placed under the presidency of Henry Dun- 
ster. He remained in this country after he re- 
ceived his Bachelor's degree, until 1645, when he 
went in a ship by way of Newfoundland to the 
West Indies, — his business being to instruct the 
seamen. He visited the Islands of St. Christo- 
pher's, Barbadoes, and Nevis, and, in each of 
these places, preached to such acceptance, that he 



8 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1642. 

received very considerable offers to remain there. 
But he proceeded to England, where he was soon 
brought into notice, being, as Gov.Winthrop says, 
•^'a very able scholar, and of ready wit and fluent 
utterance." He was appointed chaplain in the 
regiment of Col John Okey, in the army of Lord 
Thomas Fairfax, who had the chief command of 
the parliament forces in the north, on the resigna- 
tion of Lord Essex. In 1653, he was commissary 
general, and about the same time, scout-master 
general of the English army in Scotland. In the 
same year, he was employed in negotiations with 
the Duke of Savoy, and at home, served in the 
army, with which however, he was not long con- 
nected. 

Having great talents for the speedy discharge 
of any trusts committed to him, he soon at- 
tracted the notice of Oliver Cromwell. He 
seems to have been fitted by nature for scenes of 
political manoeuvering, and his principles were of 
such flexible character, that he could easily ac- 
commodate them to any service which the times 
required. It was his aptness for State affairs, 
and his great assiduity in business, sthat gained 
for him the distinctions of rank and office, which 
he enjoyed. In 1655, being secretary to John 
Thurloe, who was secretary of Cromwell, he vis- 
ited the French king on public business, and com- 
municated his instructions in Latin. In 1656, he 
was chosen member of parliament from the Scotch 
borough of Haddington in Scotland, under Gen- 
eral Monk's instructions. In 1657, he was ap- 
pointed minister to Holland, by Cromwell, who, 
in assigning him this station, in a letter of cre- 
dence says, ^'George Downing is a person of em- 
inent quality, and after a long trial of his fidelity, 
probity and diligence, in several and various 
negotiations, well approved and valued by us, him 
we have thought fitting to send to your Lordships, 



1642.] HENRY DUNSTER5 PRESIDENT. 9 

dignified with the character of our agent," Sec 
He had the same employment mider Richard 
Cromwell in 1660 ^ and his services in this station 
appear to have been great, of which abundant ev- 
idence is afforded in Thurloe's State Papers. 

While in the Netherlands, he seems to have had 
considerable acquaintance with De Thou, minis- 
ter from France, who had much respect for his 
diplomatic abilities. In July, 1658^ he wrote to 
his government that De Thou was anxious to ob- 
tain the picture of Cromwell as a special favor. 
By attempting to prevent the English at the 
Hague from praying for Charles Stuart, he dis- 
pleased the queen of Bohemia, so much that she 
said, she would no more worship with them. This 
attempt moreover nearly cost him his life; for 
three of his own countrymen watched fbrhim one 
evening, with the intention of assasinating him, 
but were unsuccessful. He wrote on the 9th of 
August, that he had warm debates with De Witt 
concerning the English ships captured by the 
Dutch in the India seas. He was active in watch- 
ing the plans of the royalists on the continent, and 
prompt in communicating them to his government. 
In the last year of his mission, he was employed 
in bringing about a peace between Denmark and 
Swe<ien, and in ascertaining the designs and pro- 
ceedings of the friends to the exiled Charles. 

When he had become convinced that there was 
a prospect that this monarch would be restored to 
the throne of his ancestors, he changed sides, and 
took every opportunity to show his loyalty to the 
king. He was soon elected burgess for Morpeth, 
in Northumberland, to serve in the parliament, 
which convened at Westminster, 8 May, 1661. 
Previous to this, the order of knighthood had been 
conferred on him. He was appointed about the 
same time by Charles to the same station in Hol- 
land, which he had held under the Cromwells. 
In March, 1662, while in that county, in order to 



10 GRADUATES OP HARVARD. [1642. 

show his zeal and love for his majesty^ he procur- 
ed the arrest of John Okey, Miles Corbet and 
John Barkstead, three of the judges who had con- 
demned to death, Charles I., and sent them to En- 
gland for trial. Okey had been the friend of 
Downing, who served in his regiment as chaplain. 
With the other two, he had co-operated in the 
cause of parliament. His conduct therefore, in 
this transaction was justly reprobated. It is thus 
spoken of by his contemporary Fepys, who had 
been a clerk in Downing' s office. " This morn- 
ing [12 March, 1662] we had news that Sir G. 
Downing, (like a perfidious rogue, though the ac- 
tion is good and of service to the king, yet he 
cannot with a good conscience do it) hath taken 
Okey, Corbet and Barkstead at Delft, in Hol- 
land, and sent them home in the Blackmore. Sir 
W. Penn talking to me this afternoon of what a 
strange thing it is for Downing to do this, he told 
me of a speech he made to the Lord's States of 
Holland, telling them to their faces, that he ob- 
served that he was not received with the respect 
and observance, that he was when he came from 
the traitor and rebel Cromwell ; by whom I am 
sure he hath got all he hath in the world, and 
they know it too." Under date of the 17th, men- 
tioning the arrival of the judges, Pepys adds, 
^*The captain tells me that the Dutch were a good 
while before they could be persuaded to let them 
go, they being taken prisoners in their land. But 
Sir George Downing would not be answered so, 
though all the world takes notice of him for a 
most ungrateful villain for his pains." 

In 1663, he was created a baronet, and is styl- 
ed of East-Hatley, in Cambridgeshire. In 1667, 
his majesty's commissioners of the treasury chose 
him for their secretary. The writer^ already quo- 
ted, states under 1668, that Mr. Downing discour- 
sed with him about having given advice to his 



164S.] HENRY DUNSTER5 PRESIDENT. 11 

majesty for prosecuting the Dutch war^ but that 
the king had hearkened to other counsellors^ and 
thus subjected the nation to loss. He also in- 
formed Pepys at this time^ that when in Holland, 
^'he had so good spies, that he hath had the keys 
taken out of De Witt's pocket when he was abed, 
and his closet opened and papers brought to him 
and left in his hands for an hour, and carried back 
and laid in the place again, and the keys put into 
his pocket again. He says he hath had their most 
private debates, that have been but between two 
or three of the chief of them, brought to him — in 
an hour after that, hath sent word thereof to the 
king.'' 

In 1671, he was again sent to Holland, to ad- 
just some difficulties which had arisen between 
the English and the Dutch, but returning home, 
through fear or some other cause, before he had 
executed the business of his mission to the satis- 
faction of the king, he was imprisoned in the tow- 
er of London. An article of news from England 
received in this country in 1672, says, '''Sir George 
Downing is in the tower, it is said, because he 
returned from Holland, where he was sent ambas- 
sador, before his time. As it is reported, he had 
no small share of abuse offered him there. They 
printed the sermons he preached in Oliver's time, 
and drew three pictures of him. 1. Preaching in 
a tub ; over it was written, This 1 tvas. 2. A 
treacherous courtier, — over it. This I am. 3. 
Hanging in a gibbet, and over it. This I shall 6e." 
He seems to have been afterw^ards released from 
confinement, and restored to royal favor. In the 
difficulties which the New-England colonies had 
with Charles II., from 1679, Mr. Downing is 
represented as having been very friendly to Mas- 
sachusetts. He died in 1684-, the same year, in 
which that colony was deprived of its charter, be- 
ing about 60 years of age. 



12 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1642. 

Governor Hutchinson says that D owning 's 
character runs low with the best historians of En- 
gland. It was much lower with his countrymen 
in New-England ; and it became a proverbial ex- 
pression to say of a false man who betrayed his 
trust, that he was an arrant George Downing.'* 

Rev. Mr. Felt, in his Annals of Salem, thus 
speaks of him; — "He was evidently a person of 
respectable talents. The responsible trusts com- 
mitted to him under different administrations, show 
that he was no ordinary statesman. Whatever 
government he served, whether of Parliament, the 
Cromwells, or Charles 11., he did it with faithful- 
ness. The deed of his apprehending those who 
had fought for the same cause with him, is a dark 
spot on his reputation. Could his own defence ef 
this affair be read, he would probably state, that it 
was a command of his majesty, and he must obey 
him, though at the cost of ruin to his friends. But 
still it would have been far more for his fame, had 
he said : Sire, spare me in this thing, though at 
the expense of all my honors and treasures, yea, 
my life itself In reference to his serving dili- 
gently the several governments under which he 
fell, there is no conclusive proof that he was a 
greater friend to tyranny than to freedom." 

Sir George left a family, and his descendants 
have enjoyed stations of honor and wealth. His 
wife, whom he married in 1654, was a sister of 
the Right Hon. Charles Howard, of Naworth, in 
the county of Cumberland. His son George, who 
married Catharine, eldest daughter of James, 
earl of Salisbury, was one of the tellers in the ex- 
chequer in 1680. Charles, another son, was liv- 
ing in London in 1700, and sold the farm in Sa- 
lem, which formerly belonged to his grandfather, 
Emanuel Downing. George, son of George 
and Catharine Downing, and grandson to Sir 
George, was in three different parliaments, 1710j 



1642.] HENRY DUNSTER, PRESIDENT, 13 

1713, and 1727. He died in 1747, without issiie^ 
and left a splendid bequest for the foundation of a 
college at Cambridge, England, incorporated in 
1800, on a more liberal foundation than any other 
in that renowned university. This bequest ex- 
ceeds £150,000. The assertion made in the 
Magna Britannia and by several English writers, 
that Sir George w^as son of Calibute Downing, 
L L. D., is satisfactorily refuted by Mr. Savage, 
in a copious Note in his edition of Winthrop. 
Winthrop, Hist, JY. E. ii. 240, 243. Savage^ JVote 
in do. ii. 240, 242. Felt^ Annals of Salem^ 156^ 
168—170, 531. Hutchinson, Hist. Mass. i, 107. 
ii. 10. Wood^ Athenoe Oxoniensis^ ii. 27. Me- 
moirs of Pepys^ i. 134, 135; ii. 58, 291. Dyer, 
Hist. Univ. Cambridge^ ii. 440 — -447. Johnson^ 
Hist. JV. E. 165. Ibid, in 2 Coll. Mass. Hist. 
Soc. vii. 29. Lempriere^ Univ. Biog. (Lord^s 
Edit.) ii. 552. Marvell^ Seasonable Argument^ 
cited by Mr. Savage. Mather ^ Magnalia^ ii. 20. 
Magna Britannia^ ii. 19. 

3. John Bulkley, son of Rev. Peter Bulkley, 
by his first wife, was born in England in 1619. 
His father came to this country in 1635, and was 
one of the first settlers of Concord, Massachusetts^ 
and was esteemed as one of the ablest writers and 
divines of New England. He died 9 March, 1659^ 
aged 76, leaving three sons who w^ere educated 
for the ministry. Another son not thus educated 
was graduated at Harvard in 1660, and was dis- 
tinguished in civil life. John was probably pre- 
pared for college by his father, who was regarded 
as an excellent classical scholar. At the age of 
twenty-three, he received the degree of Bachelor 
of Arts. The next year after he was graduated, 
he joined the expedition which was sent out by 
the government of Massachusetts to arrest Samuel 
Gorton, a fanatic, who gave much disturbance to 
the rigid puritans of New-England. After re- 



14 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. {1642. 

ceiving his second degree in 1645, and prior to 
I65I5 he embarked for England, where he had re- 
lations of wealth and distinction. He was set- 
tled in the ministry in the town of Fordham, in the 
county of Essex, and continued to exercise his 
clerical functions with good acceptance and suc- 
cess. He might have remained here during life, 
but for the act of uniformity, wdiich silenced his 
friend and classmate Woodbridge. He refused 
to conform to the ceremonies, and thereby lost his 
living, and was prevented from exercising his min- 
istry in any part of England. He now turned his 
attention to medicine, and was soon qualified to 
practise as a physician, which he did with good 
success ; and, as Dr. Calamy observes, adminis- 
tered " natural and spiritual physic together.'' 
He is said to have had a high reputation for his 
learning among those capable of estimating his tal- 
ents. He was distinguished for his piety, and it 
is remarked that "his whole life was a continual 
sermon." After he became a physician, his resi- 
dence was at Wapping, in the suburbs of London, 
and he continued there, or in the vicinity, until 
his death. He occasionally appeared in the pul- 
pit after the severity against the non-conformists 
had in some degree abated. But yet, says Dr. 
Calamy, " he might truly be said to preach every 
day in the week, and seldom did he visit his pa- 
tients, without reading a lecture of divinity to 
them, and praying with them." He died near 
the tower of London, in 1689, aged 70 years. 
His brother Peter died at Concord, Massachu- 
setts, the preceding year in his 45th year. Cala- 
my^ account of Ejected Ministers^ ii. 311, 312. 

4. William Hubbard, was son of William 
Hubbard, who came to New-England as early as 
1630, and after a few years established himself at 
Ipswich, Massachusetts, which town he represent- 
ed in the general court six years between 1638, 



1642.] HENRY DUNSTER5 PRESIDENT. 15 

and 1646. He removed to Boston and died about 
1670, leaving three sons, William, Richard and 
Nathaniel. William, the eldest, was born in En- 
gland in 1621, and received his Bachelor's degree 
at the age of twenty-one. It does not appear where 
he spent the time from this period until he had 
passed the age of thirty-five years. But he had 
within that time studied theology, and assisted 
Rev. Thomas Cobbet in the ministry at Ipswich. 
About the year 1657, he was ordained as the col- 
league of iMr. Cobbet, who though in the prime 
of his usefulness, required an assistant on account 
of the extent and arduousness of his ministe- 
rial labors. Ipswich was at that time a desi- 
rable situation for a young clergyman. There 
was hardly any place in New-England at the time 
of Mr. Hubbard's settlement, which had so large 
a proportion among its population, of gifted intel- 
ligent minds. It had been settled " by men of 
good rank and quality, many of them having the 
yearly revenue of large lands in England, before 
they came to this wilderness." As Mr. Cobbet 
continued active in his ministerial duties until old 
age, Mr. Hubbard must have enjoyed considera- 
ble leisure, which appears to have been employed 
in historical investigations. Bat his success was 
not equal to the wishes of the present generation, 
although his labors procured for him much favor 
and respect from his contemporaries. His first his- 
torical work was " A Narrative of the Troubles 
with the Indians in 1676 and 1677 ; with a Sup- 
plement concerning the war with the Pequods in 
1637.'' 4to. pp. 132. To which is annexed a Ta- 
ble and Postscript in 12 pages, and also, ^^A Nar- 
rative of the Troubles with the Indians in New- 
England, from Piscataqua to Pemmaquid," 4to. 
pp. 88. The whole was published at Boston, in 
1677. The same work was printed in London in 
1677, under the title of the Present State of New- 



16 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1642. 

England. He was in England in 1678, and might 
have gone thither for the purpose of having the 
work puhlished there. 

His history of New-England was completed in 
1680, to which period the narrative of events is 
continued. In that year, it was submitted to the 
examination of the general court of Massachu- 
setts, who appointed a committee, consisting of 
WilHam Stoughton^ Capt. Daniel Fisher, Lieut, 
WiUiam Johnson, and Capt. William Johnson, 
^•^to peruse it and oive their opinion." The chi- 
rography of Mr. Hubbard was not easy to read, 
and this probably was one reason why the com- 
mittee did not complete the service assigned them 
for nearly two years afterwards. On the 11 Oc- 
tober, 1682, the general court granted fifty pounds 
to the author ^"^as a manifestation of thankful- 
ness," for this history, ^'he transcribing it fairly, 
that it may he more easily i^erused,^^ It appears 
that he procured some person to copy his work, 
as the MS. which now exists in the archives of 
the Massachusetts Historical Society, and fairly 
written in upwards of 300 pages, is not in his 
handwriting, but has his emendations. It was 
published by the Massachusetts Historical Soci- 
ety encouraged by a very liberal subscription of 
the legislature to it for the use cf the common- 
wealth, and it makes the V. and VI. volumes of 
the second series of the Society's Collections. It 
was thought at the time of its publication that it 
would bring a considerable accession of facts to 
New-England history, but its value was much 
lessened by the publication of Gov. Winthrop's 
MSS. by Mr. Savage, in 1825 and 1826. From 
this work, Mr. Hubbard derived most of his facts 
and sometimes the very language, down to 1649. 

In 1685, he lost his venerable colleague, Mr. 
Cobbet, who died on the 5 November, aged 77. 
For two years afterwards, he was alone in the 



1642.] HENRY DUNSTER5 PRESIDENT. 17 

ministry; but in 1687, he received as his col- 
league. Rev. John Denison, grandson of his 
early friend and parishioner, Major-general Dan- 
iel Denison. The connexion was short, as Mr. 
Denison died in September, 1689, Three years 
afterwards, Rev. John Rogers, son of President 
Rogers, was ordained as colleague to Mr. Hub- 
bard, whom he survived many years. The con- 
nexion was probably the more agreeable to him,, 
as Mr. Rogers was nephew of the first wife of 
Mr. Hubbard. 

In 1688, Mr. Hubbard was invited to offici- 
ate at the commencement that year, and receiv- 
ed from Sir Edmund Andros the following notice 
of his appointment. 

Sir Edmund Andros^ Knight^ i^-c. 
The Rev. Mr. William Hubbard, Greeting: 
''Whereas the Presidency or Rectorship of Harv- 
ard College, in Cambridge, within this his Ma- 
jesty's territory and dominion of New-England, 
is now vacant, I do therefore, with the advice of 
council, by these Presents, constitute, authorize 
and appoint you the said Wilham Hubbard, to 
exercise and officiate as President of the said Col- 
lege, at the next commencement to be had for the 
same, in as full and ample a manner as any form- 
er President or Rector hath or ought to have en- 
joyed. 

Given under my hand and seal, at Boston, the 
2d day of June, in the fourth year of his Majes- 
ty's reign. Annoque Domini 1688." 

If Mr. Hubbard officiated at the ensuing com- 
mencement, when it appears no degrees were 
conferred, we can readily account for the reason 
that Increase Mather was not invited, (See Dr. 
Eliot's Biog. Diet. Art. Hubbard.) as he was 
at that time in England, as agent of the colony. 
If he officiated in 1684, ihe year President Rog- 
ers died, as seems to be intimated by Dr. Eliot, 
3 



18 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1642. 

there was a propriety in his being selected, al- 
though " Increase Mather was in the neighbor- 
hood,'' as Mr. Hubbard was the oldest clergy- 
man then living in New-England, of the alumni 
of the College, and his character and talents en- 
titled him to the distinction. Dr. Eliot, whose 
characters have been considered as drawn with 
considerable discrimination, bestows a full share 
of praise on Mr. Hubbard, saying, ^^he was cer- 
tainly for many years, the most eminent minister 
in the county of Essex ; equal to any in the prov- 
ince for learning and candor 5 and superior to all 
his contemporaries as a writer." Governor Hutch- 
inson gives him the character of " a man of learn- 
ing, and of a candid benevolent mind, accompan- 
ied with a good degree of Catholicism." 

The publications of Mr. Hubbard, besides 
those already named, were, the Election sermon, 
1676, entitled. The happiness of a people in the 
wisdom of their rulers directing, and in obedience 
of their brethren attending, unto what Israel ought 
to do. 4to. 1676; A Fast sermon, 168:2 ; A Fu= 
neral discourse on Major-general Daniel Deni- 
son, 1684, and A Testimony to the order of the 
Gospel in the churches of New-England, in con- 
nexion with Rev. John Higginson of Salem. 

Mr. Hubbard married Margaret Rogers, daugh- 
ter of his predecessor, Rev. Nathaniel Rogers. 
A second wife, whom he married in his seventy- 
third year, was Mary, widow of Samuel Pearce, 
This marriage, according to Rev. Mr. Frisbie, 
excited the displeasureof his parish, ^^for though 
she was a serious worthy woman, she w as rather 
in the lower scenes of life, and not sufficiently fit- 
ted, as they thought, for the station." Mr. Hub- 
bard had as many as three children, born before 
the death of their grandfather Rogers, in 1655. 
Their names were John, Nathaniel and Marga- 
ret. John and his wife Ann were living in Bos- 



1642.] HENRY DUNSTER5 PRESIDENT. 19 

ton in 1680. John Hubbard, who was graduated 
in 1695, is supposed to have been a son of John or 
Nathaniel ; as was Nathaniel Hubbard, who was 
graduated in 1698. Margaret married John Pyn- 
chon, Esq. of Springfield, where she died 11 Novem- 
ber, 1716. Her children were John, born at Ips- 
wich, who had a large family, and died 12 July, 
1742; Margaret, who married Capt. Nathaniel 
Downing, and William, born at Ipswich, 1689, 
married Catharine, daughter of Rev. Daniel Brew- 
er, and died 1 January 1741, leaving a number of 
children, of whom William was graduated in 
1743. Allen^ Biog. Bid. Art. Hubbard. Eliot^ 
do. Holmes, Annals of America^ i. 490. Hutch- 
inson^ Hist. Mass. ii. 147. 1 Coll. Mass. Hist. 
Soc. vii. 253. X. 32—35. Ibid. 2d Series, ii. 
Editors^ Preface to Hist. J\, E. Rev. Joseph B. 
Felt, MS. Letter. 

5. Samuel Bellingham, M. D., son of Rich- 
ard Bellingham, governor of Massachusetts col- 
ony, was born in England, and probably accom- 
panied his father to this country in 1634. Hav- 
ing completed his academical studies and taken 
his first degree, he commenced the study of med- 
icine, and repaired to Europe, to enjoy those ad- 
vantages in completing his professional studies, 
which New-England did not at that time afford. 
He appears to have been in England in 1660, 
about which time he met with Increase Mather, 
then on a tour in that country, and they entered 
into an arrangement to travel in company on the 
continent. But he was soon after obliged to go 
to Holland on some sudden emergency, and Mr. 
Mather considered himself as released from the en- 
gagement. Mr. Bellingham however, afterwards 
travelled on the continent; was sometime at 
Leyden, and obtained from that university the de- 
gree of Doctor of Medicine. It is beheved that 
he visited his friends in New-England once or 



20 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1642. 

twice after he first left it. He finally settled in 
London, where he married the Widow Savage, 
and lived until he was between 70 and 80 years 
of age. He was the only son of Gov. Belling- 
ham who survived hi& father, MS. documents. 
Remarkahles of Dr. Increase. Mather^ 22. Math- 
er^ Magnalia^ ii. 2S. 

6. John Wilson was son of Rev. John Wil- 
son, the first minister of the First Church in Bos- 
ton, and grandson of Rev. William Wilson, D, D.^ 
prebendary of St. PauPs in London, whose 
wife was neice of Edmund Grindal, archbishop of 
Canterbury. He was born in London in Sept. 
1621, came with his father to New-England on 
his second voyage hither. Dr. Cotton Mather 
gives the following account of an accident which 
happened to him in his early years. '' When a 
child, he fell upon his head, from a loft, four sto- 
ries high, into the street, from whence he was ta- 
ken up for dead, and so battered and bruised and 
bloody with his fall, that it struck horror into th© 
beholders : but Mr. Wilson [the father] had a 
wonderful return of his prayers in the recovery of 
the child, bath unto life and unto sense ; inso- 
much that he continued unto old age^ a faithful, 
painful, useful minister of the Gospel."' After 
preaching several years, he was invited to assist 
Rev. Richard Mather, of Dorchester, Massachu- 
setts, and was ordained as his "coadjutor'' in 1649. 
Johnson calls him j^asifor to the church at Dor- 
chester. He continued at this place two years 
after his settlement, and then removed to the 
neighboring town of Medfield, where he was min- 
ister forty years. He died 23 August, 1691, at 
the age of 70. He preached the Artillery Elec- 
tion sermon in 1668, but it was not printed, and 
it does not appear that he ever published any 
thing. 

Mr. Wil&on married Sarah Haoker5 daughter 



1642.] HENRY DUNSTER5 PRESIDENT. 21 

of Rev. Thomas Hooker, of Hartford Connecti- 
cut. His son John was baptized in his grandfa- 
ther Wilson's church at Boston, 8 July, 1649. 
His children born in Medfield were^ Thomas^ 
1652 5 Elizabeth, in 1653; Elizabeth, 2d in 1656^ 
who married Rev. Thomas Weld of Dunstable ; 
Increase ; John, 2d. in 1660, who resided io 
Braintree, and was probably the same who was 
one of his majesty's justices there in 1705; and 
Thomas, 2d. in 1662. Another daughter is said 
to have been Susan, the wife of Rev. Grindal 
Rawson, who was graduated in 1678. 

Several of the descendants of Mr. Wilson have 
been educated at Harvard. Mather^ Magnalia^ 
i. 288. Harris^ Memorials of the First Church 
in Dorchester^ 16. Records of the First Church 
in Boston, Medfield Toivn Records. Whitman^ 
Hist. Artill Co. 142. Savage^ JSotes in Win-- 
throp, i. 222^ 310, 311. Johnson^ Hist. JV. E. 
165. F. Jackson, MS. Extracts from Records^ 

7. Henry Saltonstall, M. D., son of Sir 
Richard Saltonstall, one of the patentees and first 
settlers of Massachusetts, Avas born in England,, 
and accompanied his father to New-England in 
1630. In 1639, he was admitted a member of 
the Artillery Company in Boston, and was prob- 
ably one of the youngest of the company at that 
time. Three years after, he received the degree 
of Bachelor of Arts at Harvard, and soon left 
the country. He went to England, studied med- 
icine, and in 1644 visited Holland. He was in 
Italy in 1649, and received from the University of 
Padua, the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In 
June, 1652, he received a similar honor from the 
University of Oxford. He did not return to this 
country to reside, although some of his relations 
remained here, and the family have continued here 
with much reputation to the present time. Sam- 
uel Saltonstall, one of his brothers^ lived in New- 



22 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1642. 

England more than fifty years, and died at Water- 
town, where his father resided while he remained 
in this country, 21 January, 1696. MS. Papers. 
W. Winthrop^ MS. Catalogue. 

8. Tobias Barnard, after he graduated, re- 
turned to England. To what family he belong- 
ed I have not ascertained. Mr. Prince in his 
Annals, mentions a Mr. Barnard as the first min- 
ister of Weymouth. A volume of records in the 
clerk's office in Boston, which gives the births in 
Weymouth for several years, contains the name of 
Massachel Barnard of the latter place, as early as 
1637, in which year, and in 1639, two of his chil- 
dren were born 5 but no where is he described as 
the minister of Weymouth. The graduate may 
have belonged to the Weymouth family, but there 
appears no evidence that he did. In the Theses 
of the first class, published by Gov. Hutchinson, 
his name is placed last. Johnson, Hist. JV. E. 
165. Prince^ Jinnals ofJV.EA. 151. 

9. Nathaniel Brewster, B. D., supposed 
to have been grandson of Elder William Brew- 
ster, one of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, and one 
who received his education at the University of 
Cambridge, in England, was, if born at Plym- 
outh, the first native in all North-America who 
received a collegiate degree in this country. Af- 
ter leaving college, he followed the example of 
several of his classmates, and sought in England 
that sphere of usefulness and that preferment 
which could not be enjoyed here. Gov. Hutch- 
inson says, he settled in the ministry in the coun- 
ty of Norfolk. From his having received the de- 
gree of Bachelor of Divinity from the University 
of Dublin, it may be inferred that he was some- 
time in that city, and possibly, associated with 
Rev. Samuel Mather, or if not, that he obtained 
his degree through the influence of this early 
friend and companion. He might have continued 



1643.] HENRY DUNSTER, PRESIDENT. 23 

in England during his life had not the general 
ejectment of ministers under Charles II. taken 
place. When that event occurred, he left the 
country, and arrived at Boston, in 1662, with sev- 
eral others who had been or were afterwards in 
the ministry. After preaching at different places, 
and probably having visited his friends at Plym- 
outh and at Norwich, in Connecticut, he went 
to Long-Island, and w^as settled over the church 
in Brook-haven in 1665, and there continued un- 
til his death in 1690. He must have been nearly 
70 years of age. It is a tradition in the family, 
that he married Sarah, daughter of Roger Lud- 
low, deputy-governor of Connecticut. He left 
three sons, John, Timothy and Daniel, whose 
descendants continue, and are respectable on the 
Island. His son Daniel was a magistrate in 
Brook-haven many years. Some of his descend- 
ants have received the honors of Yale college. 
Woody Hist, of Totvns on Long-Island^ 48. 
Hutchinson^ Hist. Mass. i. 107. Roxbnry Church 
Records. 

1643. 

10. John Jones, son of Rev. John Jones, the 
first pastor of the church in Concord, Massachu- 
setts, came to New-England with his father, who 
arrived at Boston, 3 October, 1635. He was grad- 
uated in 1643, and in May, 1645, was admitted 
freeman of the Massachusetts colony. As early 
as 1651, he was living in the Bermudas or Som- 
ers Islands, as appears from Johnson, who, in 
speaking of several of the early graduates of 
Harvard College, says, " Mr. Jones, another of 
the first fruits of this college is employed in these 
Western parts of Mevis, one of the Summer Isl- 
ands." In speaking of the father in some com- 
plimentary verses, he again alludes to the son as 
follows : 



24i GRADUATES OP HARVARD^ [1643. 

^^ Leading thy son to Land, yet more remote, 
'^ To feed his flock upon this Western waste : 
^' Exhort him then Christ's kingdom to promote, 
'^ That he with thee of lasting joys may taste." 

What became of Mr. Jones after his employ- 
ment in the Bermudas, I know not. He was num- 
bered with the dead in 1698. Shepard^ MS. 
Journal. Johnson, Hist, JV. E. 82, 165. Win- 
throp, Hist. JV.£. i, 169, 189. ii. 374. Mather, 
Magnalia^ ii. 23. 

11. Samuel Mather, son of Rev. Richard 
Mather, was born at Magna- Wotton, in Lanca- 
shire, England, 13 May, 1626. His father, the 
great ancestor of the Mather family in this coun- 
try, and one of the most eminent divines among 
the Fathers of New-England, arrived in Boston 
harbor, 17 August, 1635, and was constituted 
the teacher of the church in Dorchester, in Mas- 
sachusetts, where he died, 22 April, 1669, aged 
73. His wife and four sons accompanied him to 
this country. Two sons were born after he arri- 
ved here. Four of the sons were educated at 
Harvard, of whom Samuel was the eldest. He 
was graduated in the 18th year of his age, and 
before he was twenty-five, he was made fellow of 
the college. He was held in such estimation by 
the students, that when he left them, they put on 
badges of mourning. When he began to preach, 
he spent some time in Rowley as an assistant to 
Rev. Ezekiel Rogers. When the second, or 
North Church was gathered in Boston, he was 
invited to take charge of it, and officiated as 
preacher one winter, but declined to become its 
minister. Several circumstances induced him to 
go to England in 1650. On his voyage, he es- 
caped a most violent storm, and the ship in which 
he embarked was singularly preserved from being 
burnt. He spent some time at Oxford, and was 
made chaplain at Magdalen college in that Uni- 



1643.] HENRY DUNSTER5 PRESIDENT. 25 

versity. He was admitted to the degree of Mas- 
ter of Arts both at Oxford and Cambridge. He 
frequently preached at St. Mary's. He accom- 
panied the English commissioners to Scotland, 
and continued preaching the gospel there public- 
ly at Leith, two years. In 165 1, he returned to 
England, but soon after, went to Ireland with 
Lord Henry Cromwell, who was accompanied by 
Dr. Harrison, Dr. Winter and Mr. Gharnock. 
He was here made senior fellow of Trinity Col- 
lege in Dublin, where he again took his degrees. 
He was connected as colleague with Dr. Winter 
in his public ministry, preaching every Sabbath 
morning at the church of St. Nicholas in Dublin; 
besides officiating once in six weeks before the 
lord-deputy and council. His preaching was 
much esteemed and very successful. He was 
pubhcly ordained by Dr. Winter, Mr. Taylor 
and Mr. Jenner, 5 December, 1656. His liber- 
ality, although a decided nonconformist is confes- 
sed by Anthony Wood, who admits, that "though 
he was a Congregational-man, and in his princi- 
ples a high Nonconformist, yet he w as observed 
by some, to be civil to those of the Episcopal 
persuasion, when it was in his power to do them 
a displeasure. And when the Lord-Deputy gave 
a commission to him and others, in order to the 
displeasing of Episcopal ministers in the province 
of Munster, he declined it: As he did afterwards 
do the like matter in Dublin ; alleging that he 
was called into that country to preach the gospel, 
and not to hinder others from doing it.'' Not- 
withstanding this tolerant and christian spirit, he 
was soon after the restoration of Charles II., sus- 
pended from the ministry on account of two ser- 
mons he preached at Dublin, against the revival 
of the ceremonies of the English church, from 2 
Kings xviii. 4. Dr. Calamy says, " he was re- 
presented as seditious, and guilty of treason; 

4* 



26 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1643. 

though he had not a disrepectful word of the king 
or government, but only set himself to prove, that 
the ecclesiastical ceremonies then about to be re- 
stored, had no w^arrant from the word of God." 
Mr. Ware says in his Hist, of the Old North 
Church, that he met with these sermons at the 
Boston Athenaeum, — that they are full of power 
and spirit, and that he *^*found in them passages 
in the finest style of that peculiar puritan elo- 
quence, which is so happily imitated in Walter 
Scott's Romances." 

Being prevented from any farther service in 
Ireland, Mr. Mather returned to England, and 
was the minister of Burton- Wood until the Bar- 
tholomew act took place in 1662. He then went 
to Dublin, where he gathered a church at his own 
house. He continued to preach here without mo- 
lestation until 18 September, 1664, when he was 
arrested by an officer and carried to the main 
guard. ^^There," says Dr. Calamy, **he reason- 
ed with the officers and soldiers about their dis- 
turbing a meeting of Protestants, when yet they 
gave no disturbance to the Papists, who said mass 
without any interruption. They told him, that 
such men as he were more dangerous than the 
Papists, &/C. The mayor having consulted the 
lord-deputy, told Mr. Mather that he might go to 
his lodgings, but, that he must appear the next 
day before his lordship, for which he and some 
others gave their word. Being the next day be- 
fore the mayor, he told him, that the lord-deputy 
was much incensed against him for his conventi- 
cle, being informed that there were many old dis- 
contented officers there. Mr. Mather denied that 
he saw any of those there whom the mayor nam- 
ed, and gave him an account of his sermon, which 
was on John ii. 15 — 17 ; and could not give any 
reasonable offence. However, that evening, he 
was seized by a pursuivant from the lord-deputy, 



164i3.] HENRY DUNSTER, PRESIDENT. 21 

and the next day imprisoned; but soon released." 
When Dr. Stubbs by some printed letters brought 
into notice Valentine Greatarick, who pretended to 
some extraordinary powers in curing diseases, 
and was much resorted to by the people of Dub- 
lin, Mr. Mather wrote a discourse against his 
pretensions, which was much commended, but 
not allowed to be printed on account of the au- 
thor's character. A certain lady having sent 
him a discourse, written by several Roman Cath- 
olic clergymen, entitled "The One only, and 
Singular only One Catholic and Roman faith," 
he drew up an answer to it, which was pubhshed, 
and was well received. He continued to do good 
in all ways within his power till his death, and 
supported the character of a good scholar and a 
man of general benevolence. As a preacher, he 
held the first rank, and his name was known 
throughout the kingdom. He died 29 October, 
1671, in the 46th year of his age, and was buried 
in Dublin. He was succeeded in his congrega- 
tion by his younger brother, Nathaniel Mather. 
His publications were, A Wholesome Caveat for 
a time of liberty, 1652 ; Two Sermons against 
the revival of the ceremonies of the English 
church, preached a. 1660; A treatise against 
Stinted Liturgies ; an Irenicum, in order to an 
agreement between Presbyterians, Independents, 
and Anabaptists 5 A Defence of the protestant 
religion against popery, 1671; A Course of ser- 
mons upon the Old Testament types, with some 
discourses against modern superstitions, which 
were pubhshed by his brother after his decease; 
and Observations on the Holy Scriptures: useful 
to be considered in the daily reading the lively 
Oracles, 1707, ISmo. pp. 164^. 

Mr. Mather married in 1656, the sister of Sir 
John Stevens, by whom he had several children, 
all of whom excepting one, a daughter, died 



28 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1643. 

young. His wife died in 1668. Mather^ Mag - 
nalia^ ii. 33 — 48. Ibid. Remarkables of Dr. 
Increase Mather^ 15, 16. Calamy^ Account of 
Ejected Ministers^ ii. 415 — 417. JVeal^ Hist, of 
JV. E. i. 385. Hutchinson^ Hist. Mass. i. 108. 
Magna Britannia^ iii. 1304. Wood^ Athenoo 
Oxoniensis^ ii. 489, 490. 1 Coll. Mass, Hist^ 
Soc. iv. 178, 179. 

12. Samuel Da nforth, son of Nicholas Dan- 
forth, was born at Framlingham, in the county 
of Suffolk^ England, in September, 1626, His 
father came to this country in 1634, and settled 
at Cambridge, and was elected the representative 
of that town in 1636 and 1637. Dr. C. Mather 
says, '^he was a gentleman of such estate and re- 
pute in the ivorld^ that it cost him a considerable 
sum to escape the Knighthood which king Charles 
imposed upon all of so much per annum; and of 
such figure and esteem in the churchy that he 
procured that famous lecture at Framlingham in 
Suffolk, where he had a fine manor." Samuel 
was not quite eleven years old when his father 
died. On this event, he was committed to the pa- 
rental care of Rev. Thomas Shepard, to whose 
church Mr. Danforth belonged, and who proved a 
kind patron to his son. After being graduated, 
he was appointed tutor, and was made the second 
fellow of the college, whose name appears on the 
catalogue of graduates. After the return of Rev. 
Thomas Weld to England, he was invited by the 
church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, to become a 
colleague to Rev. John Eliot, whose labors a- 
mong the Indians, and in translating the Bible 
into the Indian language, required much of his 
time. He accepted the invitation, and was or- 
dained 24 September, 1650. He proved a ju- 
dicious, faithful and afiectionate preacher of the 
gospel. His sensibilities were so acute, that it 
is said, he rarely, if ever, ended a sermon without 



1643.] HENRY DUNSTER5 PRESIDENT. 29 

weeping. It was his practice to wTite his ser- 
mons twice over, '^and in a fair long hand.'' His 
utterance was free and clear; his memory very 
tenacious, and never known to fail him. He was 
particularly watchful over the members of his 
church ; very attentive, and full of consolation to 
the sick ; and careful to prevent and check any 
disorders or irregularities among the people of his 
charge. He used his influence to have such per- 
sons allowed to keep places of public entertain- 
ment, as would maintain good regulations and 
correct manners in their houses. And when he 
saw from his study window, '^ any town dwellers 
tippling at the tavern, he would go over and chide 
them away." While young, and afterwards, he 
devoted some portion of his time to astronomical 
pursuits, and published almanacks for several 
years. Those from 1646 to 1649, inclusive, I have 
seen, and some of them are valuable for the chron- 
ological tables at the end. These tables were 
consulted and cited by Mr. Prince in his New^- 
England Chronology. Mr. Danforth published 
an account of the comet which appeared in 1664, 
with a brief theological application. He contends 
that a comet is a heavenly body, moving accord- 
ing to defined laws, and that its appearance is por- 
tentous. His other publications are, the Election 
sermon in 1670, entitled a recognition of New-En- 
gland's errand into the wilderness, from Matt, xi. 
7 — 9, 4to. pp. 24; and the Cry of Sodom inquir- 
ed into, upon occasion of the arraignment and 
condemnation of Benjamin Goad, for his prodig- 
ious villany, 4to pp. 30, 1674. Several speci- 
mens of his poetry are found in his almanacks. 
They appear to be more tuneful than the verses of 
some of his contemporaries. One of his sons wrote 
poetry, and several, in the collateral branches of 
the family, appear to have been similarly gifted. 



30 GRADUATES OF HARVAHD. [1643. 

(1) Mr. Danforth died of a fever of six days con- 
tinuance, on the 19 November, 16 74, aged 48 
years. Such was his peace in his departure, that 
Mr. Eliot his colleague, used to say, ^^my brother 



(1) The following, presumefl to be a specimen of Rev. Sam- 
uel Danforth's Poetry, is copied from his Almanack for 1648. 

" Awake yee westerne Nymphs, arise and sing : 

And with fresh tunes salute your welcome spring. 

Behold a choyce, a rare and pleasant plant, 

Which nothing but its parallell doth want. 

'Twas but a tender slip a while agoe, 

About twice ten years or a little moe, 

But now 'tis grown unto such comely state, 

That one would think't an Olive tree or Date. 

A skilfull Husbandman he was who brought 

This matchless plant from far, and here hath sought 

A place to set it in : and for it's sake, 

The wildernes a pleasant land doth make. 

And with a tender care it setts and dresses, 

Digs round about it, waters, dungs and blesses. 

And, that it may fruit forth in season bring, 

Doth lop and cut, and prune it every spring. 

Bright Phoebus casts his silver sparkling ray, 

Upon this thriving plant both night and day. 

And with a pleasant aspect smiles upon 

The tender buds and blooms that hang thereon. 

The lofty skyes their christall drops bestow ; 

Which cause the plant to flourish and to grow. 

The radiant Star is in it's Horoscope, 

And there 'twill raigne and rule for aye, we hope. 

At this tree's roots Astraa sits and sings 

And waters it, whence upright JUSTICE springs. 

Which yearly shoots forth Lawes and Libertyes, 

That no mans Will or Wit may tyrannize. 

Those birds of prey, who sometime have opprest 

And stain'd the country with their filthy nest. 

Justice abhors ; and one day hopes to finde . 

A way to make all promise-breakers grinde. 

On this tree's top hangs pleasant LIBERTY, 

JNot seen in Austria, France, Spain, Italy. 

Some fling their swords at it, their caps some cast 

In Britain 'twill not downe, it hangs so fast. 

A loosnes (true) it breeds (Galen ne'er saw) 

Alas ! the reason is, men eat it raw. 

True Liberty's there ripe, where all confes 



1643.] HENRY DUNSTERj PRESIDENT. 31 

Danforth made the most glorious end I ever saw." 
Dr. C. Mather gives him the following epitaph : 

"Non dubium est, quin eo verit, quo siella eunt, 
"Danforthus, qui stellis semper se associavit." 



They may do what they will but v/ickednes. 

PEACE is another fruit ; which this tree bears, 

The chiefest garland that this Country wears. 

Which over all house-tops, townes, fields doth spread, 

And stuffs the pillow for each weary head. 

It bloom'd in Europe once, but now 'tis gon : 

And's glad to find a desart-mansion. 

Thousands to buye it with their blood have fought 

But cannot finde it ; we ha't here for nought. 

In times of yore, (some say, it is no ly) 

There was a tree that brought forth UNITY. 

It grew a little while, a year or twain. 

But since 'twas nipt, 't hath scarce been seen again, 

'Till some here sought it, and they finde it now 

With trembling for to hang on every bough. 

At this faire fruit, no wonder, if they shall 

Be cudgells flung sometimes, but 'twill not fall. 

Forsaken THU TH, Times daughter, groweth here, 

(More pretious fruit, what tree did ever beare ?) 

Whose pleasant sight aloft hath many fed. 

And what falls down knocks Error on the head, 

Blinde Novio sayes, that nothing here is true, 

Because (thinks he) no old thing can be new. 

.Alas poor smoaky Times, that can't yet see, 

Where Truth doth grow, on this or on that Tree. 

Few think, who only hear, but doe not see, 

That PLENTY groweth much upon this tree. 

That since the mighty COW her crown hath lost, 

In every place shee's made to rule the rost : 

That heaps of Wheat, Pork, Bisket, Beef and Beer, 

Masts, Pipe-staves, Fish should store both farre and neer: 

Which fetch in Wines, Cloth, Sv/eets and good Tobac-— 

O be contented then, ye cannot lack. 

Of late from this tree's root within the ground 

R-ich MINES branch out. Iron and Lead are found, 

Better than Peru's gold or Mexico's 

Which cannot weapon us against our foes. 

Nor make us howes, nor siths, nor plough-shares mend ; 

Without which tools mens honest lives would end. 

Some silver-mine, if any here doe wish. 

They it may finde i' th' bellyes of our fish. 

But lest this Olive plant in time should wither, 



32 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1643. 

Mr. Danforth married in 1651, a daughter of 
Rev. John Wilson, of Boston. After his death, 
she married Mr. Ruck of Boston, where she died 
13 September, 1713, in her Slst year. By her, 
Mr. D. had 12 children, of whom Samuel, the 
first born, died in 1653, and the next three died 
in 1659. John, the fifth child, born 8 November, 
1660, graduated at Harvard in 1677, was the 
minister of Dorchester. Samuel, the 2d. of the 
name, born 18 December, 1666, graduated at 
Harvard 1683, was the minister of Taunton. 
(See 1677 and 1683.) His daughter Mary became 
the 2d. wife of Hon. Edward Bromfield, 4 June, 
1683, and they lived together fifty-one years. 
Edmund Bromfield, their son, born Nov. 1695, 
was an eminent merchant in Boston, and father 
of Edward Bromfield, who was graduated at 
Harvard in 1742. Another daughter of Mr. D. 
died 26 October, 1672. Mr. D. had two broth- 
ers, Thomas and Jonathan, the first of whom was 
deputy-governor, and judge of the superior court 
of Massachusetts. Mather^ Magnalia^ i. 286. 
ii. 20, 23, 48—54. Allen, Amer. Biog. Diet. 
323. Eliot, JV. E. Biog. Diet. Sullivan, Hist. 
Maine, 385. Hist. Memoir Billerica, 14. Pern- 
berton,MS. Chronology, 

And so its fruit and glory end togither, 

The prudent Husband-men are pleased to spare 

No work or paines, no labour, cost or care, 

A NURSERY to plant, with tender sprigs. 

Young shoots and sprouts, small branches, slips and twigs; 

Whence timely may arise a good supply 

In room of sage and aged ones that dye. 

The wildest SHRUBS, that forrest ever bare, 

Of late into this Olive grafted are. 

Welcome poor natives from your salvage fold. 

Your hopes we prize above all Western gold. 

Your pray'rs, tears, knowledge, labours promise much, 

Wo, if you be not, as you promise, such. 

Sprout forth, poor sprigs, that all the world may ring 

How Heathen shrubs kisse Jesus for their King." 



1643.] HEJXRY DUNSTER, PRESIDENT. ^ 33 #2^<V^5^^ 

13. John Allin was probably among those /gr^^^iirf^i^ 
^^ sent hither from England" to obtain an educa- ^ptmm /M'^ 
tion. He may have been son of Rev. John Allin / 1 ^ifAuy 
of Surslingham, in the county of Norfolk, who^ / .Z„ 
made a donation of £25 to the treasury of the ^^^^"^^^V/a 
Massachusetts colony in 1635. Soon after tak- ^^^8^ /vvi 
ing his Bachelor's degree, he went to England, /^t4*#^ Umma 
became a minister, and was settled at Great- / * *ji/h^i/k 
Yarmouth, in Norfolk, where, according to W. *^*^^y /7 
Winthrop, Esq., he died of the plague in 1665. 

Gov. Hutchinson informs us that he had friends 
in Suffolk. Johnson^ Hist, N. E. 165. Hutch- 
inson^ Hist. Mass. i. 107. Mdenda in Win- 
throp^ ii. 342. 

1644. 

1645. 

14. John Oliver, son of. Elder Thomas Oli- 
ver, was a native of England, and born about the 
year 1616. His father came to New-England in 
1631, with six sons, and settled in Boston, where 
he was an elder of the First Church, and died in 
1657. John was one of the eldest sons, and was 
admitted freeman of the Massachusetts colony, 
13 May, 1640. He was about twenty-nine years 
of age when he received the degree of Bachelor 
of Arts. While a member of college, he had 
probably given considerable attention to the 
study of divinity, and had he lived, would have 
chosen this as his profession, and been settled as a 
pastor over some of the New-England churches. 
But he was destined to a short career, being 
seized with a malignant fever the next spring af- 
ter he received his degree, which caused his 
death on the 12 April, 1646, in the 30th year of 
his age. Gov. Winthrop calls him, " a gracious 
young man, an expert soldier, an excellent sur- 

5 









•'^^ 1^ ^J^^!^. 34 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1645. 

*'^'^%*^^-y, *v . veyor of land^ and one^ who, for the sweetness of 
A %k^^f< his disposition and usefulness through a public 
4 , *■< ' *5 spirit, was generally beloved and greatly lament- 
"*' ed. For some years, he had given up himself to 
the ministry of the gospel, and was become very 
'^•^X -yo^'^vx hopeful that way, being a good scholar, and of 
f H»»^ %».»|J able gifts, and had exercised publicly for two 
y years.'' From a note by Mr. Savage in Win- 
throp, it seems that Mr. Oliver was selected in 
1640 by some of the proprietors of Rumney- 
Marsh, now Chelsea, Massachusetts, to instruct 
the people there, as it was difficult for them to 
attend public worship either at Lynn or at Bos- 
ton. The church in Boston was in favor of his 
being employed in this service, and expressed 
their general consent at a meeting on the 2Sd. of 
March, when Mr. Oliver closed thus. '^ I desire 
to speak a word or two to the business of Rum- 
ney-Marsh. I am apt to be discouraged in any 
good work, and api glad, that there is a univer- 
sal consent in the hearts of the church ; for if 
there should have been variety in their thoughts, 
or compulsion of their minds, it would have been 
a great discouragement.— But seeing a call of 
God, I hope I shall employ my weak talent to 
God's service ; and, considering my own youth 
and feebleness to so great a work, I shall desire 
my loving brethren to look at me as their brother, 
to send me out with their constant prayers." 

Mr. Oliver presents the uncommon instance of 
a person being married before he entered college; 
and on this account, doubts were entertained 
whether the graduate and the son of Elder Thom- 
as Oliver were one and the same ; but regarding 
the high authority of Mr. Savage as conclusive, 
I felt more confidence in dismissing them. His 
wife was Elizabeth, daughter of John Newgate, 
a respectable inhabitant of Boston. His children 
were, 1. John, born 2\ November, 1638, died 



1645.] HENRT DUNSTER5 PRESIDENT. 35 

1639; 2. Elizabeth, born 28 February, 1640^ 
married Enoch Wiswall of Dorchester, 1657 ; 
3. Hannah, born 1642, died 1653 ; 4. John, 2d. 
born 15 April, 1644, married and settled in Bos- 
ton, was member of the second church ; admitted 
freeman 1681, and is said to have died 1683, 
having had a son Sweet, by Susanna, his wife, 
born 27 August, 1668 ; 5. Thomas, born 10 Feb- 
ruary, 1646, settled in Newton; married (1) 
Grace Prentiss, 27 Nov. 1667, (2) Mary Wilson, 
19 April, 1682, and had five sons and four daugh- 
ters. He was a deacon of the church, a repre- 
sentative of the general court, and member of the 
council ; died 2 Nov. 1675, in his 70th year. 
The widow of Mr. John Oliver married for her 
second husband, Mr. Edward Jackson of New^- 
ton, a worthy inhabitant and benefactor of the 
college, by whom she had three sons - and five 
daughters, whose descendants are numerous. 
She survived her first husband 63 years, and her 
last, 28 years, and died in 1709, aged 92. Win- 
throp, Hist. JV, E. i. 96, 328 ; ii. 257. Savage, 
JSote in do. i. 96, 328^ Interleaved Mmajiack 
for 1646. Boston Town Records, Records of 
Second Church in Boston. MS, Letter of Fran- 
cis Jackson of Boston, Homer, Hist, of JVetvton 
in 1 Coll. Mass, Hist, Soc. 

15. Jeremiah Holland. Of him little is 
knowQ. There were two persons of the name of 
Holland, John and Angell, who were admitted 
freemen of the Massachusetts colony in 1636. 
John settled in Dorchester, and Angell in Boston. 
The graduate might have been son of one of 
these. Like several of his and the preceding 
class, he left the country after having completed 
his education. He went to England, and was 
settled in the ministry in the county of Northamp- 
ton, where he had a living of between £200 and 



:♦.- ^* 



36 



GRADUATES OF HARVARD. 



[1645. 



£300 per annum. He died before the year 1698. 
Hutchinson^ Hist. Mass. i. 107. Mather^ Mag- 
nalia, ii. 23. Genealogical Register, 348. 

16. William Ames was son of Rev. William 
; Ames^ D. D., a celebrated theologian, who was 

born in the county of Norfolk^ in England^ and 
/ was educated at Christ's College in Cambridge ; 
went to Holland, and was professor of the Univer- 
sity of Franeker, where he enjoyed fame and in- 
dependence. But the air proving unfavorable to 
his health, he removed to Rotterdam with the in- 
tention of emigrating to New-England, but he 
died at Rotterdam in November, 1633, aged 57. 
His widow, in pursuance of her husband's in- 
tentions, came with her children to this country^ 
within a few years after his death. In lf37j^ she 
was an inhabitant of Salem, Massachusetts, and 
her family at that time consisted of six per- 
sons. Probably on account of the advantages at 
Cambridge for educating her children, and par- 
ticularly her son William, Mrs. Ames removed to 
/ , . that place, where she died in December, 1644, 
1 ^^ia4MM.$lu. and was buried there, ^ wo of her daughters 
/oJLiHj-'^&tik^ married inhabitants of Cambridge. Ruthmarri^ 
ed Edmund Angier, and was mother of Rev. 
>Samuel Angier, H. C. 1673, who was the minis- 
ter, first of Rehoboth, and afterwards of Water- 
town. The other was married to Rev. Urian 
Oakes, afterwards president of the college. ? 

William, the graduate, was born in Holland a- 
bout the year 1623, and was in his eleventh year 
when his father died. Soon after completing his 
education, he went to England, and was^settled 
in the ministry in Wrentham, in Suffolk, wnere he 
remained until he was ejected for his non-conform- 
ity in 1662. He died in 1689, aged m. He is 
omitted by Dr. Cotton Mather among his hst of 
authors of '^larger," or ^Messer composures," 
although he is said to have published a tract en- 



1645.] HENRY DUNSTER5 PRESIDENT. 37 

titled " The Saint's security against seducing 
spirits," <fec. Lempriere^ Univ. Biog. (Lord's 
Edit.) i. 80. Calami/j Account of Ejected Min- 
isters^ ii. 648. Johnson^ Hist. JV. E. 165. Felt^ 
Anncils of Salem^ 553, and MS. List of Inhabit- 
ants in Salem. 

17. John Russell, son of John Russell, 
probably the same who was at Cambridge in 
1635, and afterwards an early inhabitant in Con- 
necticut, was a native of England. Having com- 
pleted his course of college studies, he prepared 
for the ministry, and was invited to settle at 
Weathersfield, Connecticut. There he was or- 
dained, and soon obtained a considerable stand- 
ing among the clergy of that colony. In 1657^ 
he was appointed by the general court, with Rev. 
Samuel Stone and several other ministers, to meet 
such elders as might be delegated from the other 
colonies, to form a general ecclesiastical council^ 
at Boston, in June of that year; and to assist in 
debating such questions as might be proposed by 
the general court of Connecticut, or of any other 
colony, and to make report of their doings to the 
authority by whom they were appointed. Mr» 
Russell was so unhappy as to become embroiled 
in the Hartford church controversy, from which 
Dr. C. Mather says, ^^ issued thunderings, and 
lightnings, and earthquakes, through the colony." 
The church of Weathersfield, in consequence of 
this ecclesiastical dispute, and the part which 
Mr. Russell took in it, became divided and con- 
tentious. Some of the members of it exhibited 
to the general court a complaint against their 
pastor for concurring in the excommunication of 
one of the brethren, without giving him, as it was 
alleged, a copy of the complaint made against 
him, or acquainting him with the nature of his 
crime. The general court ordered that Mr. Rus- 
sell should be reproved for acting contrary to the 



33 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1645. 

usage of the churches. The members were also 
divided in their opinions as to their actual exist- 
ence as a church. Some insisted that they were 
no church, because they had never been organ- 
ized in a formal manner according to gospel or- 
der; or if they ever had been constituted a 
church, the members of it had moved away in 
such a manner as to have destroyed its existence. 
While some were ardently attached to Mr. Rus- 
sell, others as strenuously opposed him. In this 
state of affairs^ the general court appointed a 
council to hear the difficulties which had arisen 
in the church and town. But the animosities 
had become so general and so deep seated, that 
no reconciliation could take place. Mr. Russell 
therefore, in 1659, removed to Hadley, Massa- 
chusetts, where he, and a number of his warm 
friends from Hartford and Weathersfield, planted 
a new town and church. Before he left his former 
charge, he and his people signed an instrument, 
and his name at the head of it, is followed by a- 
bout thirty of his congregation. He was settled 
the first minister of Hadley, and continued there 
until his death, 10 November, 1692. He was 
probably 67 years of age or upwards. 

While in Hadley, he became acquainted with 
Edward Whalley and William Goffe, two of 
CromwelPs generals, but better known as being 
among the judges who constituted " England's 
Black Tribunal,'' which sentenced to death, 
Charles Stuart, king of England. These men 
after residing some time in concealment, at New 
Haven, went to Hadley, in October, 1664, and 
took up their residence with Mr. Russell, by 
whom they were concealed and protected during 
the rest of their lives. It was while they resided 
with him, and while his people were observing 
a fast on occount of Philip's war, 1 September, 
1675, that a party of Indians collected, and were 



1645.] HENRY DUNSTER, PRESIDENT. 39 

about to attack the inhabitants, while assembled 
in the meeting house. Some accounts represent 
the scene to have occurred on the Sabbath, but 
all agree that it happened during a time of public 
worship, and while almost the entire population 
were collected. The party approached the town 
from the north, with the manifest design to sur- 
prise the people at meeting, before they could be 
prepared to make any effectual resistance. Gen- 
.eral Goffe, and General Whalley, the latter of 
whom had become superannuated, were the only 
persons remaining at home, at Mr. RusselPs. 
Goffe saw, from his chamber window, the enemy 
collecting and approaching toward the meeting 
house, and knowing the peril of the congregation, 
felt himself constrained to give them notice, al- 
though it might lead to the discovery of his char- 
acter and his place of concealment. He went, in 
haste to the house of God, apprised the assembly 
that the enemy was near, and preparation must 
be immediately made for defence. All was alarm 
and trepidation. ^^What shall we do, who will 
lead us 7" was the cry from every quarter. In 
the midst of the confusion, the stranger said, ^' I 
will lead, — follow me." Immediately all obeyed 
their unknown general^ and prepared to march a- 
gainst the enemy. Though some of them were 
armed, yet their principal weapon of defence was 
an old iron cannon, sent there some time before by 
the government, but no one of the inhabitants was 
sufficiently skilled in military tactics, to manage it 
to much purpose. The marvellous stranger 
knew, and having it loaded, proceeded to the at- 
tack. Beholding this formidable array, the Indi- 
ans retreated a short distance, and took refuge in 
a deserted house, on Connecticut river. The can- 
non was so directed, that when discharged, the 
contents threw down the top of the stone chim- 
ney, about the heads of the Indians, who took 



40 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1645. 

fright and fled with great terror and dismay. The 
commander ordered his company to pursue, take 
and destroy as many of the enemy as they could, 
and while they were in the pursuit of the Indians, 
he retreated unobserved, and soon rejoined his 
companion Whalley, in their private chamber. 
When the pursuers returned, their leader was 
gone, and nothing was heard of him for years af- 
terwards. The good people supposed their de- 
liverer was an angel, who having completed his 
business, had returned to celestial quarters. And 
when we consider his venerable appearance — his 
silvery locks, and his pale visage — together with 
the disposition of the pious at that period, to see a 
special providence in events which they could not 
comprehend, and the sudden manner of his disap- 
pearance ; it is not surprising, they supposed their 
deliverer came from another world. It was for 
the safety of Mr. Russell, who saw that no evil 
could arise from their credulity, to favor the fancy 
of his people. In after time, it was known that 
the supposed angel was General GofFe, one of the 
Protector's prominent generals, who succeeded in 
in eluding the pursuit of his enemies in his native 
country, and in finding a peaceful grave in the soil 
of New-England. 

The preceding account, furnished me by Rev. 
Phineas Cooke, a native of Hadley, differs in 
some respects from the printed accounts of the 
transaction, but it is believed to agree better 
with tradition, and it seems to be more consist- 
ent with probability, than preceding statements. 

It has been the tradition that the Judges died 
at Hadley, and were buried in Mr. Russell's 
cellar. They had resided with him fifteen or 
sixteen years. As they received more or less re- 
mittances every year from their wives in England, 
and frequent presents from their friends in New- 
England, Mr. Russell was no sufferer by his 






1645.] HENRY DUNSTER5 PRESIDENT. 41 

boarders. By these and other supplies, he was 
enabled to give a public education to two of his 
sons. Jonathan, the eldest, was graduated at 
Harvard, in 1675, was the minister of Barnstable, 
and died 21 February, 1711, aged 56. Samuel 
was graduated at Harvard in 1681 ; settled at 
Branford, Connecticut, and died 25 June, 1731, 
aged 71. Several of Mr. RusselPs descendants 
have been educated at Harvard and Yale colleges. 
Trumbull, Hist. Conn, I 294, 300, 303, 492. 
Hutchinson, Hist. Mass. i. 200. Holmes, An- 
nals of America, i. 316. Barber, Hist, and 
Antiq. of JYeiv Haven, 54. Amer. Qiiar. Reg. 
iv. 309, 310. In the last cited work, p. 309, 
and in Trumbull, i. 294 and 492, the christian 
name and dates are erroneous. 

18. Samuel Stow, son of Thomas Stow, one 
of the early settlers of Concord, Massachusetts, 
was a native of England, His father may have 
been the same who was of Braintree, and who 
was admitted a member of the Artillery Com- 
pany in 1638. The son appears to have taken the 
freeman's oath the same year he was graduated. 
In 1650, he went to Connecticut, accompanied 
by two of his brothers, and settled in Middletown, 
where, Dr. Trumbull considers him as the first 
minister. He was employed in the ministerial 
office in that place nearly ten years. He then re- 
linquished the profession, and afterwards lived a 
retired and highly respected citizen until his 
death, in 1704. He survived all who preceded 
him in college, excepting William Hubbard. 
Judge Sewall in a letter to Nathaniel Higginson, 
dated m Nov. 1705, says, ^'The Rev. Mr. Samu- 
el Stow of Middletown, went from thence to Heav- 
en, on the 8lh of May, 1704, being 82 years of 
age. I have received a very good character of 
him from Mr. Noadiah Russell, minister of that 
place. His manuscript of the Jews is in your 

6 



4t2 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1645. 

handj to do with it as you see cause, being assu- 
red you will do nothing amiss." The manuscript 
referred to, was, ''' Ten Essays for Conversion of 
the JewSj'^ sent by Judge Sewall to Mr. Higgin- 
son the preceding year. Mr. Stow gave a lot of 
land to the town of Middletown, for the benefit of 
education, which still bears his name. Field^ 
Stat. Acct. of Middx. Co. Conn. 43. Mather^ 
Magnalia^ ii. 23, Trumbull^ Hist. Conn. i. 310, 
492. MS. Letter of Judge Seimll to JV. Higgin- 
son. L. Shattiichj MS, Letter.. 

19. James Ward, M. B., son of Rev. Nath- 
aniel Ward, the first minister of Ipswich, Massa- 
chusetts, who came to New-England in June, 
1634, was a native of England, and probably ac- 
companied his father in his emigration, and re- 
turned with him in 1647. The next year, he was 
made a fellow of Magdalen college in the Univer- 
sity of Oxford, where he took the degree of Mas- 
ter of Arts. He was at the same University cre- 
ated Bachelor of Medicine, by favor of Sir Thom- 
as Fairfax, general of the Parliament's army. 
He died before 1698. Gov. Hutchinson calls him 
Jacob, and mistakes the name of the college where 
he received his fellowship. Hutch. Hist, of Mass. 
i. 108. Mather, Magnalia, ii. 2S. Joshua Cof- 
fin, MS. Letter. 

20. Robert Johnson. Of this early gradu- 
ate nothing satisfactory has been obtained. The 
late Wilham Winthrop, Esquire, of Cambridge, 
relying on the correctness of the punctuation of 
Johnson, where speaking of the early scholars of 
Harvard, supposed he was son of the author of 
the Wonder Working Providence, and that he is 
modestly alluded to in the following part of a 
sentence in that work : " Another of the first 
fruits of this college is employed in these West- 
ern parts of Mevis, one of the Summer Islands." 
This undoubtedly refers to John Jones, the grad- 



1645.] HENRY DUNSTER5 PRESIDENT. 43 

uate of 1643, as has been stated in the notice of 
him, under 1643 ; although it is acloiowledged 
that in Johnson, tones is separated from another 
by a colon, and another begins with a capital let- 
ter. But the supposition of Mr. Winthrop is de- 
stroyed by the fact, that Capt. Johnson, the his- 
torian, had no son by the name of Robert. No 
one of the name of Robert Johnson appears a- 
mong the first settlers of Massachusetts, but this 
name occurs in the records of Marblehead, under 
1674, and it is possible that the graduate resided 
there at that time. He is marked as dead in 1698. 

1646. 

'*' 21. John Alcock, son of Deacon George 
Alcock, one of the first settlers of Roxbury, Mas- 
sachusetts, whose wife w as sister of Rev. Thom- 
as Hooker, and who died soon after her arrival in 
New-England in 1630, was a native of England, 
and after receiving his Bachelor's degree, studi- 
ed medicine, and settled in practice in Roxbury. 
He was admitted freeman of the Massachusetts 
colony, 3 May, 1654, although from the original 
paper containing the names of those admitted at 
that time, it appears that the oath was dispensed 
with in his favor. He died in 1667. His will is 
dated 10 May, in the year preceding. 

He was married, and left eight children, all 
under age ; viz. George, John, Palsgrave, Ann, 
Sarah, Ehzabeth and Joanna. George was grad- 
uated at Harvard in 1673. One of the daugh- 
ters married Rev. Zechariah Whitman, minister 
of Hull, and another was the wife of Palsgrave 
Hewes. Dudley^ Letter to the Countess of Lin- 
coln. Prince^ Annals^ ii. 4, 29, 64. MS. JSotes 
of Joseph Willarcl, Esq. of Boston. 

22. John Brock, son, it is beheved, of Wil- 
liam Brock, was born at Stradbrook, in the coun- 



44> GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1646. 

ty of Suffolk, in England, 1620, and came with 
his parents to this country, at the age of seven- 
teen years. He entered college in I64S5 ^^^ P^^" 
ceeded Bachelor of Arts at the age of tw^enty- 
six. After residing at college two years longer, 
he engaged in preaching the gospel, first at Row- 
ley, in Massachusetts, and then at the Isles of 
Shoals, in New-Hampshire. He continued at the 
last place until 1662, when he removed to Reading, 
Massachusetts, where he was ordained the suc- 
cessor of Rev. Samuel Hough, on the l3th of 
November of that year. Here he remained re- 
spected and beloved until the time of his death, 
18 June, 1688, in the 68th year of his age. He 
was succeeded by Rev. Jonathan Pierpont. 

Mr. Brock was an eminent christian, and a la- 
borious faithful minister, preaching not only on the 
Sabbath, but frequently on other days. He es- 
tablished lectures for young persons, and for the 
members of the church. He often made pastoral 
visits, and they were rendered very useful by his 
happy talents in conversation. He was so remark- 
able for his holiness and devotion, that it was 
said of him by the celebrated Mitchel, "he dwells 
as near heaven, as any man upon earth." He 
was remarkable for his faith, and the fervent spirit 
of his devotional services. Several stories are re- 
lated of the efficacy of his prayers, in which he 
had a particular faith, or an assurance of being 
heard. When he lived at the Isles of Shoals, he 
persuaded the people to enter into an agreement 
to spend one day in every month, besides the Sab- 
bath, in religious worship. On one of these days, 
the fishermen who composed his society, desired 
him to put off the meeting, as the roughness of the 
weather had for a number of days prevented them 
from attending to their usual employment. He 
endeavored in vain to convince them of the im- 
propriety of their request. As most of them were 



»»»'» 



*>*«. %> 



1646.] HENRY DUNSTER5 PRESIDENT, 45 

determined to seize the opportunity for making up 

for their lost time, and were more interested in 

worldly than spiritural concerns, he addressed 

them thus; ^^if you are resolyed to neglect your 

duty to God, and will go away, I say unto you, 

catch fish if you can ; but as for you, who will 

tarry and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, I will 

pray unto him for you, that you may catch fish 

until you are weary.'' Of thirty-five men, only 

five remained with the minister. The thirty who 

went from the meeting, with all their skill caught* 

through the whole day but four fishes; while the ^v. .,^v ^^^ '^ 

five who attended divine service, afterwards went v ^ 

out and caught five hundred. From this time, , . v 

the fishermen attended all the meetings which Mr. 

Brock appointed. A poor man who had been very ' V : \ 

useful with his boat in carrying persons, who at-" **^* ^ ' 

tended public worship, over a river, lost his boat^^^ > A ' . 

in a storm, and lamented his loss to his ijiinister. •- i^^. \} ^ 

Mr. Brock said to him, ^'Go home, honest man, I ,^ -. ; . 

will mention the matter to the Lord ; you will 

have your boat again to-morrow." The next 

day, in answer to earnest prayer, the poor man ^ * 

recovered his boat, which was brought up from ^jt v , ^■■^, 

the bottom by the anchor of a vessel, cast upon it 

without design, A number of such remarkable 

correspondencies between the events of providence 

and the prayers of Mr. Brock, caused Rev. John 

Allin of Dedham, to say of him, " I scarce ever 

knew any man so famihar with the great God, as 

his dear servant Brock. ^' 

However distinguished Mr. Brock might have 
been for his faith and piety, he appears not 
to have preached on either of the great anniver- 
saries, which called forth the most distinguished 
clergymen to exhibit their talents. His name ap- 
pears among the seventeen ministers, who bore 
public testimony against the proceedings of the 
elders of the First Church in Boston, in relation 



46 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1646. 

to the settlement of Rev. John Davenport. Mr. 
Brock married the w^idow of Rev. Samuel Hough, 
his predecessor, who died at Boston^ 30 March, 
1662, having been the second minister of Reading. 
Mather^ Magnalia^ ii. 30—32. 1 ColL Mass. 
Hist. Soc. vii. 254. Allen^ %B.mer. Biog. Diet. 
Hutch. Hist. Mass. i. 248. 

23. George Stirk. No person of this name 
^~. /__, appears among the early emigrants to New-Eng- 
/A^4^ ^t-ec^ land. The only name found bearing a resemblance 
»<^^-#»«^ ^•*«'^to it is that of Stark. Wilham Stark is said by 
S/SS^iA^y Mr. Lewis to have been an inhabitant of Lynn in 
^^^^^^^^11641. Mr. Winthrop in noticing this graduate, 
As/^^l^ says, it is stated in a manuscript of Rev. Andrew 
Vy^ ^^ Ehot, D. D., of Boston, that Mr. Stirk was an 
/vf/j. -/ eminent chymist, and wrote several Latin treatises- 
**♦ K5*y^e appears not to have taken his second degree. 
Jl^^^Z/w^e was dead in 1698, as were all in his class and 
0iA ti JSii!C the two preceding classes, excepting Samuel Stow 
/jLfy ^^ftMy^^ 1645. Leivis^ Hist, of Lynn^ 79. Mather^ 
\tAL J\ -^^^^^^^^^^j ii- ^^- ^- Winthrop^ MS. Cata- 
, \j^^ V logue. 
^^ ^^^ 24. Nathaniel White seems to be regard- 
^/^Q^t ed by Mr. Winthrop, in his MS. Catalogue, as 
V one of the founders, and the minister of the 

church of Bermuda. As the church was foun- 
ded before Mr. White was graduated, it seems im- 
probable that he assisted in its organization. The 
names of Nathaniel White, Patrick Copeland and 
William Golding, occur in the marginal note in 
Johnson, who gives the following account of the 
gathering of the church in Bermuda: '' About this 
time, [before 1646] the Lord was pleased to gath- 
er a people together in the Isle of Bermudas, whose 
hearts being guided by the rule of the word, they 
gathered a church of Christ according to the 
rules of the gospel, being provided with able per- 
sons endued from the Lord to administer unto 
them the holy things of God.'' Mr. Goldirig was 



1646.] HENRY DUNSTER5 PRESIDENT. 4'7 

the minister of this church, which was afterwards, 
and before 1651 5 banished to one of the Southern 
Islands, (Mr. Winthrop says, Nevis) where Mr. 
White, the graduate, is said to have been minis- 
ter of the same church. He took his second degree 
in 1649, when, he was probably here. There was 
a Nathaniel White admitted freeman in 1672, but 
of a name so common as that of White, it would 
not be safe to consider him the graduate. One 
of the same name is mentioned by Dr. Calamy as 
minister of Lavington, in Wiltshire, about 1662. ^c^c 
The graduate is starred in the Magnalia, in 1698. CjJ^ 
Johnson^ in 2 Coll. Mass, Hist. Soc. viii. 31. 
Mather^ Magnalia^ ii. 23. Calamy^ Account^ 
(fee. ii. 761. 

1647. 

25. Jonathan Mitchel, son of Jonathan 
Mitchel, w^as born in Halifax, in Yorkshire, Eng- 
land, in 1624. His parents were exemplary 
christians, who, by the impositions and persecu- 
tions of the English hierarchy, were constrained to 
seek an asylum in New-England. They arrived 
here in the same ship with Rev. Richard Math- 
er, 17 August, 1635. Their first settlement was 
at Concord, Massachusetts, whence, a year after, 
they removed to Saybrook, Connecticut ^ and not 
long afterwards, to Weathersfield. Their next 
remove was to Stamford, where Mr. Mitchel di- 
ed in 1645, aged 54, leaving two sons, Jonathan 
and David. 

The classical studies of Jonathan were suspend- 
ed for several years, after his arrival in America ; 
but, " on the earnest advice of some that had ob- 
served his great capacity,'' they were at length 
resumed, in 1642. The next year, at the age of 
nineteen, he entered Harvard College. Here, he 
became religiously impressed under Rev. Thomas 



V 



48 GRADUATES OF HARVARD. [1647. 

Shepard's ministryj which he so highly estimated 
as afterwards to observe^ " unless it had been 
four years living in heaven, I know not how I 
could have more cause to bless God with wonder, 
than for those four years," spent at the Univer- 
sity. He was an indefatigable student, and made 
great acquirements in knowledge and virtue. His 
extraordinary learning, wisdom, gravity and piety, 
occasioned an early application of several of the 
most considerable churches, for his services in 
the ministry. The church at Hartford, in par- 
ticular, sent for him with the intention of his be- 
coming successor to the famous Mr. Hooker. He 
preached his first sermon at Hartford, 24 June, 
1649 ; and on the day following, was invited to a 
settlement in the ministry in that respectable 
town. Having however been previously impor- 
tuned by Mr. Shepard and the principal members 
of his society, to return to Cambridge, free from 
any engagement, with a view to a settlement 
there ; he declined an acceptance of the invitation 
at Hartford, and returned to Cambridge, where 
he preached for the first time, 12 August, 1649. 
Here a providential opening was made for his in- 
duction into the ministry. Mr. Shepard died on 
the 25th of the same month 5 and by the unani- 
mous desire of the people of Cambridge, Mr. 
Mitchel w^as invited to become his succes- 
sor. He accepted the invitation, and was or- 
dained 21 August, 1650. 

Soon after his settlement, he was called to a 
peculiar trial. President Dunster who had for- 
merly been his tutor, about this time, imbibed the 
principle of anti-pedobaptism 5 and preached some 
sermons against the administration of baptism to 
any infant whatever. Mr. Mitchel, young as he 
was, felt it incumbent on him openly to combat 
this principle ; and conducted in this delicate and 
difficult case, with such moderation, judgment, 



